The dynamics of a chain of N oscillators with one end fixed–a model originally invoked to describe charge-density waves–is dominated by the coexistence of a large number of attractors. One of these attractors, the minimally stable state, plays a central role. We report analytic and numerical results for the case of N=2. The model exhibits polarization phenomena and bimodal distributions of depinning times like those seen in experiments on so-called switching samples. However, the model is at odds with experiments away from threshold.

• Received 16 September 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.3467